“I would sing, I would do some exercises, I would tell myself jokes…just to keep occupied and not feel like I was going nuts"

Robert Weinberg, a former captain of the U.S. Army Air Force from 1942-1945 talks about his World War II experiences while stationed in Italy. He describes the time he was captured by Hitler Youth after his plane was shot down. He was then imprisoned by German forces in the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp where “it was dark…They made their bread with half sawdust & pieces of wood in it…" View more veterans' stories at the Veterans History Project and see more interviews conducted by the Missouri Veterans History Project.